Recently issued U.S. patents describing passenger side airbag modules and the assembly of such modules from individual components include the following:
Good U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,480 issued Dec. 3, 1991
Lauritzen U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,256 issued Jul. 26, 1994
From the disclosures of these patents it will be seen that modules have been assembled from individual components including:
a cushion pack containing a folded airbag,
an inflator canister containing means for generating gas to inflate the cushion (airbag); and
a housing or frame which receives the cushion pack and the inflator canister.
Many prior art housings have been formed by stamping a metal sheet to the desired shape, or by casting or molding metal or synthetic resins to form a one piece housing. While these have been satisfactory for simple shapes, more complicated shapes such as those shown in Lauritzen U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,256 or Lauritzen U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,678 may be produced by extruding the sidewalls and bottom of the housing and then attaching separately formed endcaps.
When this is done, the endwalls are usually secured to the sidewalls by screws, rivets, welding, or other means for insuring that they remain in place relative to one another in a location in the automotive vehicle until such time as a collision occurs and the airbag is inflated. In the present invention the end caps are secured to the sidewalls of the housing without the use of screws, rivets, or other fasteners.